Eric Ferrara: 3 books

Originally a Lenape trail running the length of Manhattan Island, the Bowery has become one of the most notorious thoroughfares in America. Developed in stages by the Dutch, British and then Americans, this stretch of street has continually risen from its own ashes, interminably experiencing periods...

New York's Lower East Side is the birthplace of everything from organized crime to anarchist movements. In the nineteenth century, an influx of struggling immigrants seeking opportunity met the harsh realities of industrialization. Poverty and squalor fueled a vicious battle for power and political clout....

During the early twentieth century, Sicilian and Southern Italian immigrants poured into New York City. Looking to escape poverty and persecution at home, they soon discovered that certain criminal enterprises followed them to America. Before any codes of honor were established in the New World, violent...